An airline employee took off in a plane without permission at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle and crashed in Puget Sound

A view of the apparent crash site where a stolen Q400 passenger plane went down near Seattle. CNN

An airplane employee took off in a plane without permission at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, Washington and later crashed in Puget Sound, the airport confirmed Friday night. There were no other passengers on board.

Alaska Airlines acknowledged the incident in a statement, saying “We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air Q400.” A Q400 can seat as many as 75 passengers.

The US Coast Guard was responding to a crash site where a “large smoke plume” was seen, NBC News reported. The plane was allegedly “flying around Puget Sound,” before later reports indicated that the plane went down near Ketron Island. Rescue boats were on scene.

Broadcast images of the crash site showed burning forest land in an apparently dense, dark area near Ketron Island.

Sea-Tac Airport confirmed that the plane crashed in south Puget Sound. The airport has returned to normal operations after a brief ground stop.

Troyer described the person who took the plane as a 29-year-old “suicidal male” who had lived in the county. “This is not a terrorist incident,” he added.

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